Sand-tester pump



April 23, 1929. G. F. LE BUS SAND TESTER PUMP Filed Aug. 8, 1927 4Sheets-Sheet l 5 45 0 g 1 0 1 1 3 b b h 1| H H x m e M r N u m H i l 1 II w a. e x .9 1 I J m 8. at I w 1 mm a z G 17% .MJ .5. &2

ATTORNEY April 23, 1929. LE us 1,710,581

SAND TESTER PUMP April 23, 1929. G. F. LE BUS SAND TESTER PUMP FiledAug. 8, 192? 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 6e0rg8IIe 8%? BY 2 ATTORNEY April23, 1929. s. F. LE BUS SAND TESTER PUMP 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 8,1927 INVENTOR Gear eEIeZBus.

ATTORNEY may be run into the well and which includes Patented Apr. 23,1929.

UNITED STATES:

GEORGE 1*. Ln BUS, orELEcTRA, TEXAS.

SAND-TESTER PUMP.

Application filed August 8, 1927. Serial No. 211,537.

This invention relates to a sand tester pump.

An object of the present invention is the provision of an economical andpositive working pump with which a suction can be created on the sandwhile at the same time cutting oil the mud and water from above andallowing the pumping operation to maintain the suction only on the sandand thereby elminating the expensive method of setting pipes andbailing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a sand tester pumpin which a suction is created on the sand so that mud and water will beremoved therefrom which is usually forced back into the sand by highpressure rotary pumps used in the process of rotary drillingf A furtherobject of the invention is the provision of a sand tester pump which maybe raised or lowered by the drill pipe for forcing fluid from the sandthrough said drill pipe, all initial setting operations of the pumpbeing accomplished by turning the I drill pipe to the right therebyeliminating any danger of unscrewing the pipe when controlling valvesare being operated for making the test.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a sandtester pump which means for thoroughly washing the formation to betested while at the same time preventing any outlaw fiuids from enteringthe pump or drill pipe.

Another object of the invention is the pro-. vision of a sand testerpump which will give an active test from a formation even when the wellis caving in, at such a time the circulating pumps being run at the sametime the pump is being lowered into the well whereby all cavings arewashed out making it possible to reach the sand to be tested.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a releasing packerto cut off all outlaw fluids from above while the formation is beingtested and which packer insures the operator that the tester pump can beeasily pulled from the well after the test has been made This inventionwill be best understood from a consideration of the following detaileddescription, in view of the accompanying drawings forming a part of thespecification; nevertheless it is to be understood that the invention isnot confined to a complete pumpwith the control valves being heldunseated.

Figure 2 is a vertical. section of a portion of the pump showing thecontrol valves in position when the pump is being removed,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section of the pump showing thevariable operation or position of the control valves,

Figure 1 is a horizontal section along the line 1-4 of Fig. 1",

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken along the line 55 of Fig. 1",-

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken along the line 66 of Fig. 1",

Figure 7 is ahorizontal section taken along the line 7 7 of Fig. 1

Figure 8 is a horizontal section taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 3,

Figure 9 is a view in elevation partly in section of a circulating head,

Figure 10 is a vertical section of the airculating head showing thebushing to prevent circulation in a difierent position from that shownin Fig. 9,

Figure 11 is a fragmentary vertical sec-- tion of a portion of thewalking barrel and its operative relation with a plunger body,

Figure 12 is a view in perspective of the upper end of the plunger body,1

Figure 13 is a view in elevation and partly in section of the valvecontrol body,

Figure 14 is a view in perspective with parts broken away of a nutacting as a wrench to operate the valve controlling means,

Figure 15 is a horizontal section taken along the line 15-15 of Fig. 1,

Figure 16 is a fragmentary vertical section of the sand tester pumpshowing the control valves in closed position,

Figure 17 is a fragmentary vertical section of the operating means forthe controlling valve stem,

Figure 18 is a fragmentary vertical section showing the valvecontrolling means in:

position for maintaining the back pressure threaded at its upper end at19 on to the Figure 20 is a view in elevation of a nut having externalleft hand threads and in ternal right hand threads.

Referring more particularly to the drawings l0 designates a collar whichis screwed into a tubular piston rod 11 and is for the purpose ofconnecting the sand tester pump to a drill body, not shown. A ball race12 embraces the piston rod 11 and in conjunction with the tubularbushing 13 which surrounds the piston rod, maintains the balls 14 inposition. The packing ring 15 mounted in complementary annular groovesin the bushing 13 and the race 12 is of sufficient width to provide alock for retaining the cap or race 12 on the bushing 13 and therebyprevents the cap from being forced away from the balls 14.

A packing 16 embraces the rod 11 and is located within an annular recessformed betweenan annular rib 17 formed interiorly of a tubular bodymember 18 which is bushing 13 and at its lower end on a tubular backpressure valve. body 20. The lower reduced end 21 of the bushing 13engages the upper edge of the packing 16 and cooperates with the rib 17and an inner wall of the tubular body 18 to form the annular pocket forhousing the packing. The valve body 20 provided with a pluralityofinclined chambers 22 in each of which is slidably mounted a plungervalve 23 adapted to engage a seat 24 between a pair of communieatingpassages 25 and 26 formed in the valve body 20. A coil spring 27 isadapted to maintain the valve 23 on its seat 24. The valve body, has adepending reduced portion shown at 28 which is externally threaded at29. The inner wall of the valve body is recessed as shown at 30, toprovide an annular groove adjacent the inner end of the passages 25.

The tubular body 31 of the working valve is screwed onto the threads 29of the valve body 20 and depends from said valve body.

Adjacent this point the hollow piston rod 11 terminates and is threadedat 32 into the upper end of a plunger body This plunger body has anenlarged chamber 34 at the upper end which receives a coil spring 35having the upper end of the same in engagement with the lower end of thepiston rod 11 while the lower end of said spring is in engagement withthe upper or outer end of a valve guide 36. This guide, it will benoted, is provided with ribs 37 arranged in parallel relation with theaxis of a valve 38 and is adapted to engage a wall of the chamber 34.The lower end of the chamber is provided with a valve seat 39 adapted tobe engaged by the valve, as will be presently explained.

A stem 40 is secured to the valve 38 and projects through a reducedpassage 41 of the lower reduced end 42 of the tubular plunger body. Thereduced portion 42 of the plunger body provides for an annular groove 43to receive a packing 44 which is in engagement at its upper end with ashoulder 45 of the plunger body and at its lower end with the upper endof a sleeve nut, which not only operates to hold the packing in place,but also provides a stop 46 for a wrench nut 47 which is screwed intothe internal threads 48 of the lower reduced end 42 of the plunger body.The sleeve nut 46 engages the external threads on the lower end of saidplunger body and is provided with a seat 49 adapted to receive the lowerend of the nut 47. The valve control pin 50 is mounted in the centralpassage of a control member 51 forming the. main body of the controllingdevice for regulating the opening and closing of the valve 38 againstthe tension of the spring 35.

The'shearing pin 52 is inserted in :1 diametrically disposed passage inthe pin 50 and has its ends projecting into sockets 53 in the spider 51.These sockets are provided at diametrically opposite points at the innerwall of the hollow member or sleeve 51. A U-shaped spring catch 54 islocated within the hollow pin 50 and is adapted to support the shearingpin 52. The pin 50 is in the form of a spider mounted within the sleeve51. The ends 55 of the spring catch 54 are located in passages 56 formedin the hollow sleeve or pin 50.

A valve control stem or member 60 is square in cross sectional area andhas its lower end reduced as shown at 62 and threaded at 63 to receivethe internal threads 64 of a nut 65 having external threads meshing withthe threads 66 formed on the inner wall of a bushing 67 threaded at 68into the upper end of the tubular body member 69 which is threaded at 70to the lower end of the body member 31. The nut 65 has left hand threads66 while the threads 64 are right hand.

The valve 71 is carried by the reduced portion 62 and is adapted toengage aseat 72 carried by the body member 69. Resting on the valve is asleeve 73 which is adapted to retain a key 74 in position. A collar 75is maintained within the upper end of the sleeve. Said pin has an end 73by means of a pin 76 seated within a slot 77 in the sleeve projectinginto a pocket 78 in the collar. A spring 79 maintains the pin 76 inposition. A collar 80 forms an extension of the upper end of the valve71 and is received by the lower end of the sleeve 73. The ends of thepin 74 ride within theslots 81 in said sleeve. The stem 62 terminatesabove the valve 71 and is received within a collar 75 mounted betweenthe shoulder 83 of the tubular body member 69 and the upper end of atubular member 84 which forms the connection for the-packer body 85. Theguide 82 has a depending sleeve 86 through which the stem 62 slides anda shearing pm 87 is carried by the lower end of the stem and has itsends received in passages 88 in the sleeve 86. The lower end of the body69 and the member 84 are threadedly connected together at 89 and themember 84 has a threaded passage 90 into which is screwed the upperthreaded portion 91 of the packer body? or tapered mandrel 85. Themandrel is tapered, as shown at 92, and is received by a liner 93mounted in the packing material 94 and also in the packer washer 95 andextends downwardly to the lower packer washer 96. The liner is conicallyshaped and conforms to the shape of the mandrel 92. A reduced externallythreaded pipe 97 is screwed into the lower end of the mandrel 92 and thering 96 and is embraced by a coil spring 98 having its upper end inengagement with the ring 96 and its lower end in contact with aretaining ring 99 carried by the unthreaded portion 100 of the pipe 97.The lower end 100 of the tubular member 97 acts only as a means foradjusting the tension of the'spring on a mandrel, but provides aconnection to receive a perforated pipe 101 which is threaded at 102into the lower end of the tubular member 100.

A circulating head shown in Figs. 9 and 10 consists of a main tubularbody 105 which has threads 106 adapted to be screwed onto the threads107 of the connection 10, as

shown in Fig. 1. The body member is pro- -vided with an annular groove108 adapted to receive the inner end of a in 109 which is pressedinwardly by a circu ar sprin 110 mounted in a groove, 111'of the tubularbushing. 112 embracing the tubular body 105. This bushing preventscirculation of the fluid through passages 113 formed in the body member105 until said bushing is forced upwardly as shown in Fig. 10, wherebythe passages 113 register with vertical slots formed in the body member116. Pins 114 are adapted to engage the lower end of the bushing 112 forforcing the said bushing upwardly when the pins are elevated. These pinsare moved upwardly. until they strike the bearing cap 12 located at theupper end of the member 13. The

pins 11*! ride in vertical passages 115 formed in the enlarged portion116 of the body member. The lower end of the enlarged portion of thebody member is counterbored at 117 which prevents the striking the wallsof the well before the tool has been set for operation.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 11 and 12, it will be seen that theworking barrel 31 has pairs of radially disposed pins .120 adapted to bereceived within vertical slots 121 in the upper end of the plunger pins114 from body 33. An ofi'set slot 122 opens in the slots 121 and isadapted to receive the pin when the plunger body is rotated for lockingthe plunger body to the working barrel. Between each pair of slots.121the upper edge of' the plunger body is provided with a cam surface 123having inclined faces 124 and 125 directed downwardly from a centralelevated point so that when the pins engage either inclined face it willride along said face and be projected into the slot 121.

The operation of my device is as follows:

In Figs. 1 to 1, valves 38 and 71 are shown unseated and held in thatposition so that the fluid from above may be pumped through the drillpipe and tester whereby all the cavings-or any particles that mayinterfere with the positioning. of-the pump at the desired position, maybe washed out of the well. These valves are held in open position in thefollowin'g'manner:

Valve 38 is retained in open position by the valve controlled plunger 51whichiin turn is held in elevated position by the valve controlled nut47, this nut being screwed to an upward position. The valve 71 isretained in an unseated osition by the valve controlled stem 60 w ich isrotated and moved to an upward position by its connection with valve 71,and with key 74.

The packer 94 is seated in the seat which has been prepared above theformation to be tested. After said packer has been seated the plungerbody 33 is lowered until thea shear pin 87 and by turning the plungerbgd 33 to the right the valve controlled nut 4 downward position, asshown in Fig. 2, and allows valve 38 to seat. The valve controlled nut47 locks itself in position when the same engages bushing 46 and'turnsvalve controlled stem 60. This rotation of the stem shears off the pin87, shown in Fig.2. Since the stem 60 has a right hand thread as shownat 63, the stem will be screwed downwardly and cause valve 71 to seat.After thisoperation valves 38 and 71 are seated and are free to theoperation of the pump.

The pump is operated by raising and lowering the drill pipe which forcesa test of the fluid from the formation and at this time the packer 94has cut off all outlaw fluids from above.

After the test has been made and it is desired to drain the pump anddrill pipe when the pump is being pulled from the well, the plunger body33 is further rotated, as shown in Fig. 3, to the right whereby theaving left hand threads travels to a valve controlled nut47 is loweredover the handed, this movement will raise the valve controlled stem 60when it is turned to the right. Such an operation raises the valve 71from its seat and at the same time the upper end of the valve controlledstem 60 strikes the plunger pin 50 and shears pin 52 thereby forcing.the valve controlled plunger pin 50 upwardly against the stem of valve38. The spring catch 54 rests on top of the valve controlled plunger 51and holds both valves open so that the drill pipe and pump may bedrained as they are pulled from the well. \V hen the operator desires toremove the fluid from the well which has been taken from the testedformation, the valves are left closed, as shown in Fig. 2.

\Vhen the operator of the pump desires to maintain the circulationaround the drill pipe to prevent said pipe and pump from becoming stuckin the well caused by cavings, the -tubular body 10, in Fig. l'isremoved from the piston and the circulating head, as illustrated inFigs. 9 and 10 is substituted for the tubular body 10 and connected tothe piston rod by the threads 106'formed internally of the member 105.The plunger body 33 is then elevated to apoint where the slots 121 arereceived by the pins 120. This prevents further relative movement of thebody at the .time and also prevents the circulating head from beingtripped so that circulation through the pump must be made directlythrough the central channel 130 of the circulating head. This conditionof the circulating head is maintained until the formation to be testedhas been washed and the packer seats just above the formation which itis desired to test. The operator then turns plunger body 33"slightly tothe right and lowering it disengages the slots 120 from the pins 121.The tubular piston rod 11 and plunger body 33 are lowered into thetubular working barrel 31 until pins 114 strike the bearing cap 12 andforce the tubular bushing 112 upwardly to .a point where the pin 109engages itself in the slot 108 holding the bushing 112 in position toallow circulation of the fluid through the passages 113. The pump valvesare then operated as previously desired for retaining said valves in anunseated position as shown in Fig. 1 and atest is taken from the sand atthe. time the circulation is maintained around the drill pipe to preventthe same from being stuck in the well by the cavings. In ordertodetermine whether the sand tester pump is pumping fluid, the pumps canbe shut down for a short interval and the operation' of the sand testerpump continued. If the sand tester pump be forcing any fluid from theformation it will come through the circulating passages 113 and causethe fluid outside of the drill pipe to rise'and overflow into the usualtanks (not disclosed) which are mud kits, after it has been determinedthat the sand tester pump is forcing the fluid from the sand which isbeing tested, circulation is again started around the drill pipe andsuch circulation brings out the fluid which has been taken from thesand. If this fluid is oil it will rise to the top of the circulatingtanks and the quantity andquality of the fluid which said sand willproduce can be determined by the ring 95, packing material 94 and ring96 i will compress spring 98 and move down to the lower end of thetapered mandrel 92. This causes a space between the tapered mandrel andthe packing material 94, thereby releasing the vacuum that has beenplaced on the formation and the packer by the operation of the sandtester pump. This allows the packing 94 to shrink whereby the same maybe readily pulled from its seat.

If it is difiicult to force the packer 94 from the seat the slots 120 inthe plunger body 33 are re-engaged with the pins 121 so thata connectionbetween the working barrel and the drill pipe is had. By this means theentire pump, as shown in Fig. 1, may be rotated during which time thepacking material 94 may be torn from its seat. This operation justdescribed, provides for an additional means for releasing the packer sothat the pump may be readily removed from the Well.

I claim 1. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body member, aplunger slidably mounted in the body member, a valve seat in the bodymember, a valve seat in the plunger, a valve in the tubular body adaptedto engage the valve seat therein and a valveinthe plunger adapted toengage the correspond ing seat in said plunger, and means for causingsuccessively seating and holding of said valves on their seats.

2. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body member, a plungerslidably mounted in the body provided with a valve seat, a valvein theplunger adapted to engage said seat, a valve seat in the body, a valvein the body adapted to engage said seat, means for successively forcingthe valves on the seats and for holding the .valves to the said seats,

and including means for independently op erating the valves.

3. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body member, a plungerslidably mounted in the body provided with a valve seat, a valve in theplunger adapted to engage said seat, a valve seat in the body, a valvein the body adapted to engage said seat, means for successively forcingthe valves away from the said seats, including means for independentlyoperating the valves, a packer connected with the body member, and meansfor seating said packing member.

4. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body, a. plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, a valve seat in the tubular body and a valve adaptedto en-' gage said seat, a nut in the plunger adapted to be rotated formaintaining the first mentioned valve on the seat, a stem in engagementwith the nut for causing the second mcntionedvalve to be removed andretained from its seat.

5. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body member, a plungerslidably mounted in the bod and provided with a valve seat, a valve acapted to engage said seat and a spring for maintaining said valveseated, a nut threaded into the plunger for forcing the valve from itsseat, the tubular body being provided with a seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat provided with a stem having threaded connection andadapted to be rotated by the. first mentioned nut for moving the secondmentioned valve from the seat and retaining said valve in open position.

6. A sand tester pump eomprisinga tubular body, a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, and having a depending stem, a nut threaded into theplunger adapted to be rotated for forcing the valve stem in onedirection and for moving and retaining the valve away from its seat.

7. A sandtester pump comprising a tubular body a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, and having a depending stem, a nut threaded into theplunger adapted to be rotated for forcing the valve stem in onedirection and for moving and retaining the valve away from its seat,said tubular body having a valve seat, a valve adapted to engage saidseat and provided with a stem, a hollow nut threaded into the bodymember and provided with internal threads, the last mentioned valve stemthreaded in the second mentioned nut, and adapted to be rotated by thefirst mentioned nut for moving the second mentioned valve away from itsseat.

8. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body, a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, and having a depending stem, a nut threaded into theplunger adapted to be rotated for forcing the valve stem in onedirection and for moving and retaining the valve away from its seat, apacker mounted on the inner end of the tubular body, and means forforcing the packer in between the tubular body and the side walls of thewell.

9. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body, a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, and having a depending stem, a nut threaded into theplunger adapted to be rotated for forcing the valve stem in onedirection and for moving and retaining the valve away from its seat, aplunger rod connected with the piston, the tubular body being providedwith a plurality of passages connecting the exterior of the tubular bodywith the interior, a spring pressed valve controllingv said passages. v

10. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, and having a depending stem, a nut threaded into theplunger adapted to be rotated for forcing the valve stem in onedirection and for moving and retaining the valve away from its seat,said tubular body having a valve seat, a valve adapted to engage saidseat and provided with a stem, a hollow nut threaded into the bodymember and provided with internal threads, the last mentioned valve stemthreaded in the second mentioned nut,

and adapted to be rotated by the first mentioned nut for moving thesecond mentioned valve away from its seat, a plunger rod connected withthe piston, the tubular body being provided with a plurality of passagesconnecting the exterior of the tubular body with the interior, a springpressed valve controlling said passages.

11. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body member, a plungerslidably mounted in the body member, a valve seat in the body member, avalve seat in the plunger, a valve in the tubular body adapted to engagethe valve seat, therein and a valve in the plunger adapted to engage thecorresponding seat in said plunger, means for simultaneously causingseating and holding of said valves on their seats, a plunger rodconnected with a piston, the tubular body being provided with aplurality of passages connecting the exterior of the tubular, body withthe interior, and a spring pressed valve controlling said passages.

12. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body member, a. lungerslidably mounted in the body mem er, a valve seat in the body member, avalve seat in the plunger, a valve in the tubular bodyadapted to engagethe valve seat therein and a valve in the plunger adapted to engage thecorresponding seat in said plunger, means for causing successive seatingand holding of said valves on their seats, a plunger rod connected withthe piston, a circulating head secured to the plunger rod and providedwith a plurality of radial passages and means for closing said passages,and means for operating said closing means to release said closing meansfrom the passages.

13. A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body, a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat,

. a valve adapted to engage said seat, and having :1 depending stem. anut threaded into the plunger adapted to be rotated for forcing thevalve stem in one direction and for moving and retaining the valve awayfrom its seat, a hollow plunger rod connected with the piston,a'circulating head connected with the outer end of the plunger rod andprovided with a plurality of radial passages, a sleeve for closing-saidpassages, means carried by the head and adapted to be actuated by thetubular body when the said plunger is actuated for moving the saidsleeve awa from the radial passages. V

1- A sand tester pump comprising a tubular body, a plunger slidablymounted in the body and provided with a valve seat, a valve adapted toengage said seat, a valve seat in the tubular body and a valve adaptedto engage said seat, a nut in the plunger adapted to be rotated formaintaing the first mentioned valve on the seat, a stem in engagementwith the nut for causing the second mentioned valve to be removed andretained from its seat, a hollow plunger rod connected with the plunger,a hollow circulating head secured'to the plunger rod and having radialpassages, means closing said radial passages, pins slidably mounted inthe head and located between the sleeve and the outer end of the tubularbody so that when the head is moved into engagement with the outer endof the tubular body, said pins will be reciprocated for moving thesleeve away from the passages to permit circulation of fluid throughsaid passages.

GEORGE F. LE BUS.

